Front row, from left: Candy Boyne, John Boyne, SMCC President Joe Cassidy and Michael Nozdrovicky, chair of SMCC’s Nursing program.
Back row, from left: Nursing student Luke White; nursing Instructor Breanna Konrad; SMCC Foundation Dean Julie Chase; SMCC Vice President and Academic Dean Paul Charpentier; nursing Professor Martha Vrana-Bossart; and nursing student Christine LeBlanc.
The Boyne Family has donated $500,000 to the Southern Maine Community College Foundation to enable the College to provide training to more nursing students and help address the critical nursing shortage in Maine.
The gift from John and Candy Boyne will be used to establish an endowed fund dedicated to a nursing faculty position to be named the Boyne Family Endowed Nursing Faculty. The donation was made official at a signing ceremony Thursday in a nursing classroom in the College’s Health Science Center.
Dr. Michael Nozdrovicky, who is the chair of SMCC’s Nursing program and has a Doctorate of Nursing Practice, said Maine desperately needs more nurses as the current workforce approaches retirement age and the demand for healthcare services rises due to the state’s aging population. The Maine Department of Labor has projected that there will be a shortage of 3,200 registered nurses in Maine in 2025.
“The Nursing program is grateful for the continued support of the Boyne Family,” Nozdrovicky said. “Their gift comes at a time when the demand for nurses has never been greater. As Maine faces a projected shortfall of thousands of nurses in the years ahead, it is imperative that we expand our training opportunities for people to become nurses. This gift allows us to do just that.”
John and Candy Boyne, of Freeport, have a long history of supporting healthcare education at SMCC and other educational institutions. Donations from the Boyne Family have helped the SMCC Foundation provide scholarships to deserving nursing students since 2010. In 2016, the Boyne Foundation donated more than $500,000 to the SMCC Foundation to establish an endowed scholarship fund to benefit students enrolled in SMCC’s Nursing program.
The Boyne Family is pleased to pledge $500,000 to fund a nursing instructor position to help Maine bolster its workforce in the healthcare field, said John Boyne. SMCC’s Nursing program, which currently has about 200 students, prepares people to become registered nurses upon graduation.
“SMCC and the entire Maine Community College System play a major role in Maine in training our young people to qualify for meaningful careers and to hopefully remain in our state,” he said. “We hope that our gift will inspire others to consider contributing to the SMCC Foundation when planning their philanthropic donations.”
The SMCC Foundation is an independent, nonprofit foundation that raises money from businesses, civic groups, community leaders and individuals for academic programs, scholarships and the advancement of SMCC’s mission. People can support the Foundation through its website at the SMCC Foundation webpage or by contacting the office at foundation@smccME.edu or 207-741-5559.